Memory
by DrGiggles
Summary: Charlotte and Daniel look back on the memories of the freighter and their pasts. Spoilers up to 4x14. Chapter 5 finally posted! Please R&R.
1. Memory

**A/N: Hi, this is my very first fanfic I wrote, and I decided to post it on my birthday. So please review!**

**Memory**

Charlotte Lewis had trouble sleeping last night, just like the night before. It gave her a little time to think about these last week's events. She has only been on this bloody island for 8  
days. At first, she was captured by a crazy bald man named Locke and his group. She was so relieved once she was returned safely in exchange of Miles, with Dan there to greet her arrival. She and Dan later went on a life or death mission to the Tempest...now _that_ was a close one. She has a large bruise on her forehead from Juliet, but she and Dan are okay. Last night was scary though. An angry Korean guy confronted her, saying he'll break Dan's fingers if she didn't promise that to get his wife off the island. She _had_ to comply; she doesn't want Dan to suffer the consequences. This isn't the only reason why she can't sleep.

She walked aimlessly along the beach, watching the fiery sun rise along the horizon. As she sat down, she wondered if this was the place, where she grew up. Her thoughts shifted from her childhood to how she got here, the freighter. She smiled at the memory of when she first met Daniel Faraday.

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When Charlotte first boarded the freighter, she thought she would become an outsider; after all, she _was_an anthropologist. She thought she wouldn't make any friends. After reporting for duty, she was approached by a smirking Miles Straume.

"I know what you're hiding." he said. Charlotte's face went colorless.

"Hey, relax there, ummmmmm....."

"Charlotte", she replied smugly.

"Yeah, well 80% of us are lying about something." He muttered, and then he stalked off. He soon became a real pain in the ass.

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On the second day at sea, she was feeling better enough that she went up on deck for some fresh air. After gazing at the horizon for a few minutes, she turned to walk back inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a guy she knew as her team member (doing an experiment?), back right into Miles, nearly knocking him over.

"Watch it head case!" Miles grabbed the poor guy by the collar.

"Do you want me throw you in the damn ocean?" Miles shouted.

"N...n.....no." The man said faintly. Charlotte had enough. Why is Miles so hostile? She walked over and stomped his foot, Miles immediately dropped his victim to the deck.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" Charlotte shoved him and he fell hard on the wooden deck.

"We're supposed to be a bloody team! Go pick on someone else." Charlotte replied. Miles muttered something she couldn't hear and then limped off.

As she turned around, she bumped into the man whom she had just saved. They both tumbled to the deck.

As Charlotte sat up, she let out a loud groan and grabbed her throbbing head. "I'm...s-sorry. A...are you......okay?" the man slowly asked. He helped her to her feet and she almost stumbled over. _Bloody hell,_ she thought.

"Oi, just a little woozy." Charlotte quickly replied.

"Ahh, well let's get you back to your room then okay?" Charlotte slowly nodded in reply.

When she got to her room, she flopped onto her bunk. Her room was so small, thank goodness she isn't claustrophobic. "Thanks for helping me out." Charlotte smiled as she gazed up towards the slender man standing in front of her. He was a few years older than her, so she thought. He had messy brown hair and deep brown eyes; _He's kinda cute,_ she thought to herself.

"I should be thanking _you_ for helping me." He slowly replied. "It was no problem; we are supposed to be a team, yeah?" Charlotte said casually. He slowly nodded in response.

"Uhhh, you're Faraday right?" Charlotte asked quizzically.

"Daniel.....Daniel Faraday, the physicist." He replied nonchalantly. "And you are?"

"Charlotte Lewis, the anthropologist." As she shook his hand and smiled, she then realized she had a friend.

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Daniel woke up just before sunrise and looked over to see Charlotte's empty bed. He sighed; this was the third time she just left in the middle of the night. He was guessing she couldn't sleep; maybe something was on her mind? He grabbed two mangos and a water bottle and set off down the beach to where he found Charlotte sitting in the sand looking out at the calm ocean.

"Hey, Char....is everything okay? You just...leave in the middle of the night." Daniel offered her a mango and water, which she took gingerly and he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, I just need time to think about what has happened this past while." She quickly changed the subject. "Do you remember when you first met me, on the freighter?"

"Yes, I...I owe you one for that." He smiled. For some reason he thought, this wasn't the first time they met. He pushed that thought out of his mind and curiously looked over at Charlotte. She was beautiful; wavy red hair, striking blue eyes, and all the little freckles she had on her pale face. She looked over at him, her eyes warm and a little smile formed at her lips.

"You don't owe me anything Dan. Thanks for bringing me breakfast by the way." She responded softly. He smiled her favorite smile and said "No problem...."

Tears suddenly came to her eyes when she thought about last night....how scared she was for Daniel. She didn't want him to hurt, that would just hurt her even more.

"Char....are you o-okay?" Daniel said hesitating. "Did someone...t-try to hurt you? I..."

"Not me, they....he..." She whispered as the tears spilled over onto her cheeks, she kept her mouth tightly shut as not to sob.

"Charlotte, its okay...what happened?" Daniel said as he wrapped his arms around her...trying his best to comfort poor Charlotte.

"He....he said..." Charlotte whispered.

"Its okay, it's okay." Daniel whispered as he stroked her hair. "I'm here, everything is fine..."

"No it isn't Dan." she said, her voice a little stronger. "The Korean guy....he wanted to....to...."

"What did he want to do?" Dan whispered, the alarm was present in his voice.

"He...wanted to hurt you, Dan. I...I lied and he knew!" she said, looking up at him. Then she felt burning tears escape from her eyes.

"Why would he want to do that? How do you know?" Daniel replied.

"Well Dan, I might as well say I know Korean." Charlotte started.

"What...how-" Daniel said.

"Hold on Dan, I'll explain later." She interrupted. "He caught me lying....he knew that I know Korean. He saw me listening to them talk about us. He said he would hurt you, break your fingers if I didn't tell the truth and agree to take his wife off the Island." Charlotte managed to say. Daniel felt her pain as he hugged her close. They stayed silent for what seemed like hours until Daniel finally broke the silence.

"Charlotte, you must be tired....let's get you back to camp." Daniel said as he slowly helped Charlotte onto her feet. As they headed back to camp in the late afternoon, Daniel thought this scenario seemed familiar. Sort of like the first time he met her on the freighter.

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The second day on the Kahana was almost just the same as the first for Daniel; experiments, bad food, writing equations, more experiments........

It was late morning so he decided to go do a quick experiment out on the deck. As he opened his berth's door, he did a quick check to see if Miles was there...he isn't his favorite person on this boat. _Why is he so hostile? _Dan thought to himself. He gathered his equipment from his crate and headed up on deck.

After an unsuccessful experiment, Dan decided to write the results down in his journal for future reference. _Damn it,_ he thought, _this should be working. _As he was backing away from the railing, he bumped into Miles and nearly knocked him over.

"Watch it head case!!" yelled Miles, he grabbed him by the collar and shook him hard. "Do you want me to throw you in the damn ocean?!"

"N...n.....no." he finally answered. _This is it_ he thought, _I'm going for a swim._ He was too busy thinking what to do and didn't hear footsteps behind him. Next thing he knows, he lands on the hard wooden deck. He groaned, and a pain shot up his arm as he rolled over. He's not paying attention when he got up and promptly bumped into someone. He looked over to see the person who saved him lying a foot away. She was pretty with long, curly red hair..._She's prettier than Theresa_, he thought to himself.

"I'm...s-sorry. A...are you......okay?" he asked slowly, tripping over his words. He held out his hand to her and helped her up. She nearly fell over but he grabbed her.

"Oi, just a little woozy." she replied with a familiar accent. _She sounds a lot like her too._ She looked up at him with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. They were a bright blue, almost changing like the ocean. That was his new favorite color.

"Ahh, well let's get you back to your room then okay?" Dan finally managed to say. She slowly nodded and they walked down to her berth, which was just across from his. Once they got there safely, she collapsed on her bunk. She gestured for him to sit down, and he carefully sat at the end of her bunk. He was trying to slow down all the thoughts swirling around in his head so he could at least pay attention to what's around him.

"Thanks for helping me out." She said, looking over at him with a bright smile. _Much prettier than Theresa._ "I should be thanking _you._" he replied. "It was no problem; we are supposed to be a team, yeah?" she said with a casual shrug. Dan slowly nodded. _Right, right_ he thought. His thoughts were broken two seconds later.

"You're Faraday right?" she asked him quizzically. He wonders what she's heard about him, _mad scientist_ he thought. "Daniel.....Daniel Faraday." he replied. He can't believe he can remember his name after all that's happened. "And you are?"

"Charlotte Lewis, the anthropologist." she smiled and shook his hand firmly. _Maybe this will be different,_ he thought. But there was just something about her that seemed familiar to him. _Have we met before?_

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When they got back to their tent, Daniel said she should get some rest. She lay down on her makeshift bed, but didn't close her eyes.

"Daniel, I can't sleep." Charlotte said worriedly. "I don't want you to get hurt...."

"Shhhhhh....Charlotte......" Daniel said as he pulled her close to him. She curled up next to him and her breathing slowed until she was serenely sleeping, her fingers entwined with his. "Everything's fine Charlotte." Daniel slowly whispered into her ear, though she was fast asleep in his arms. "Everything is fine."

**A/N 2: This is just a bit of the whole story I wrote and I can continue upon request.**


	2. Wanna Play a Game?

**A/N: Here is chapter 2, sorry it took so long but I've been very busy with work and volunteering. I hope you enjoy it, please read and review! Oh and this chapter is for my _awesome_ beta LittleMissBones**.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Lost, if I did Charlotte and Dan would still be alive and they would have already kissed :D_

**Chapter 2: Wanna Play a Game? **

The next morning was the first morning Charlotte slept in since she arrived on the Island 9 days ago. When she awoke, it took a few moments to realize what has all happened.

_Daniel.....medical station......Korean guy..........hurt Daniel....crying....mango....Daniel......Daniel??_

Just then, Daniel stirred beside her. "Morning, Dan." She smiled as he blinked a few times, slowly waking up.

"Hey Char, are you okay?" he asked groggily.

"I'm fine now." she replied, she was always fine when Dan was beside her. "Let's go grab some breakfast, yeah?" They both got up, a little embarrassed but they both didn't mind as they were used to it. People still stared at them, and this still bothered Charlotte immensely. They heard faint whispering; most of it was about her. Charlotte wanted to go tell them off, but Dan put a hand on her shoulder. He was really good at reading her mind.

"Don't worry about them, okay?" Charlotte shrugged him off. She then pulled him away from the kitchen to talk to him privately.

"They hate me Dan! Why, why do they hate me?" she whispered fiercely.

"Charlotte....." he sighed. "I've already told you before, it's your _attitude_. That's why they don't trust us."

Charlotte was about to hit Dan, but stopped. Everyone was watching out of the corner of their eyes, looking away hastily when she shifted her gaze towards them. _Not now Charlotte_, she thought. Instead, she turned her back to him and walked over to the edge of the jungle---she needed some time alone to think about what is happening. After a while, Miles came over and sat down next to her.

"What's going on with you and Twitchy?" Charlotte shot him an evil glance. "What?? How could you guys fight when you know he-" he was cut off as Charlotte punched him hard in the face.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" he yelled, putting a hand over where she can see a faint bruise appearing. "For being a pain in the ass. And stay out of my business!" Charlotte said coldly, and he walked off. _Why can't people leave me alone?_

After a while, Charlotte was almost calm as she was transfixed by the rolling waves. She didn't even notice when Daniel came and sat next to her. When she realized he was there, she almost jumped.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He started. "Look, I'm umm...sorry about before. What I meant to say-"

"It's okay." Charlotte whispered, still looking at the waves. "It was my fault, I overreacted."

"Uh, was it you who punched Miles? I walked by him a while ago and he had a bruise on his face." Daniel asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, that was me. I've always wanted to do that, it felt good." Charlotte smiled and she looked over to see Dan was smiling too.

"Me too. Ever since I got on that boat." They both sat there watching the waves until Charlotte broke the silence.

"Want to play a game? We can work on your memory again." She said, looking enthusiastically at him.

"Sure, do you have the cards?" he asked. _Maybe I'll be a little bit better_, he thought.

"Yes, they're in the tent. Can you meet me over at the table?" she replied and started walking back towards their tent.

"Okay, I'll see you soon." Dan responded and he headed off in the other direction to the table where they usually played their card game. By then, the sun was already starting to set and nightfall will be here soon.

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_It was nighttime on the Kahana, and all but two were asleep. Charlotte looked across the hallway to see another light was on. She was bored out of her mind, so she mustered up the courage to go and knock on his door. She went up and knocked softly, she was about to turn around when the door slowly opened._

"_Charlotte?" Daniel said softly. "Wha-what are you doing here?"_

"_I'm sorry Daniel; I didn't mean to wake you." She said, when she looked up she saw he was wide awake too. _

"_Uhhh I was already...awake." he replied. "Couldn't sleep?"_

"_No, I was just thinking. What about you?" There was a long pause before Dan replied to her question._

"_Uhhh....yeah, same here." He said slowly, looking at her in confusion._

"_Can I come in, if that's okay?" Charlotte said, hoping maybe she can have a little bit of company. Daniel opened the door a little wider._

"_Sure, maybe we can talk." Daniel said. "Maybe I would feel a little better with some company". He muttered._

_Charlotte sat down at the end of Daniel's bunk and he closed the door quietly and followed suit. There was an awkward silence until Charlotte broke it. _

_So why are you going to the Island?" Charlotte asked hesitantly. "I'm going to do some research."_

"_Y-you really want to know? Just don't tell anyone." Daniel looked up and stared into Charlotte's bright blue eyes. Charlotte immediately nodded, who would she tell? She could see the pain in his brown eyes and understood the seriousness. _

_Th-there....was an accident. And someone got hurt." He started. Charlotte wanted to ask him _Did this happen at Oxford? I thought I heard about something to do with a physics professor_, but she didn't want to interrupt him. Her thoughts were put on hold as he continued._

"_Back when I used to teach at Oxford, I used to do experiments. I experimented with time travel; I started on Eloise, my rat. It worked but then she died of a brain aneurysm. I didn't think it would have an effect on humans. So Theresa, my lab assistant..." He rambled on, but intentionally left out she was his girlfriend. "She volunteered after I tried the device on myself a few times. I-I didn't know the long term effects would have any influence on us. I didn't...I didn't think anything would happen, until one day I found her laying on the ground. She started showing effects of temporal displacement, she told me she was fine...b-but she got worse, she was unstuck in time. She continued to deteriorate until she couldn't even care for herself. Once Oxford found out, they gave me the boot so I fled to Essex, Massachusetts. The experiments wrecked havoc with my memory too, I-I had to have a caretaker because I couldn't remember the simplest things." He looked up at Charlotte with teary eyes. She simply looked at him and he knew she understood. He sighed and continued._

"_A man, Charles Widmore told me to go there; to the Island...h-he told me the Island will heal me. I didn't believe him until my mother told me to go, she..." he choked. _

"_Sh-she said....she would be proud of me." He whispered and let out a small sob, and Charlotte immediately wrapped her arms around him._

"_That was an accident Dan; you didn't mean to hurt her. And don't worry, the Island will heal you." It slipped out before she could stop herself. _

"_Y-you really think so?" he looked up at her. Her response was a simple nod._

"_You said you had memory problems?" she asked._

"_Yeah, the experiment screwed up my memory." Dan replied. Charlotte nodded before asking him another question._

"_Want to play a game?" she asked with a bright smile on her face._

"_Wha-what kind of game?" he asked, slightly confused. _

"_A memory game, to help you." She answered. "How about I show you a few cards and you try to remember them over a period of time. What do you say?"_

"_Sure, and...thanks Charlotte. For listening…and helping me." He looked over at her with sincere eyes. "Okay, let's start."_

_Charlotte smiled as she laid down the first three playing cards._

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After retrieving the playing cards from their tent, she headed over to their table where she joined Dan. She sat down quietly and neither of them spoke for a moment. Charlotte laid down three cards; a four of spades, eight of clubs and queen of hearts. She let Dan look at them for a minute.

"Okay, time's up." Charlotte said, flipping the cards over to reveal the DHARMA symbols on the back. After that they sat in comfortable silence. The minutes went by quickly, and soon the 10 minutes was up.

"Time. Okay, what do you remember?" Charlotte said. She can remember, but could he?

"Uhhh, there's a four of spades. An eight...of umm, clubs?" He paused and frowned, trying desperately to remember that final card. After a moment, his face lit up.

"The.....queen of hearts." He looked anxiously as she flipped over all three cards.

"You got them all right! A four of spades, eight of clubs and queen of hearts." She looked over at him with a bright smile. Her eyes met his warm, brown ones and he returned her smile. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she lost the nerve to say it, they heard a familiar whirring sound.

"I-It's the chopper!" Dan muttered. He was almost as shocked as Charlotte was. _It's Keamy, _he thought. _He's going to torch the Island. _His jumbled thoughts were interrupted as he heard a crash. He and Charlotte looked over and saw Jack, who was holding a bag.

"This can't be good." Dan said as they began to walk over to see what was going on.

**A/N 2: Okay I have a big question that will decide the ending of the story: Do you want an angsty ending or a happy AU ending? The happy one will be a chapter longer. Thank you so much for reading and please review with the answer to the question. Namaste!**


	3. Protocol

**A/N: Here's chapter 3! I've been insanely busy with work, helicopter rides, and other things. Hope you enjoy and please review! Oh and this chapter is for my little brother Kurt, one of my biggest fans :D**

**Chapter 3- Protocol**

This can't be good." Daniel said as they walked to see what was going on. He and Charlotte walked over to see that an empty tent had collapsed. Then they saw Jack pick up a bag from the tent and open it.

"What do you suppose that is?" Charlotte asked. Daniel could hear the suspicion in her voice. He shrugged, so they started to walk over to the nearby kitchen. Jack was holding a SAT phone, one of the ones they used on the freighter.

"I think they want us to follow them."

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Daniel only had one unfortunate incident with Keamy. He avoided him at all costs. It was the early evening on the day after Naomi left on the first chopper. Daniel found himself walking towards his berth through the narrow corridors of the _Kahana_. He heard loud voices coming from Gault's stateroom. He paused as he heard Keamy's booming voice.

"Give me the key Gault," Keamy said in his steely voice.

"Martin, the Secondary Protocol is only supposed to be used as a last resort, stand down," Gault replied. "That's an order!"

"This is ridiculous." Keamy muttered. Daniel heard his heavy footstep approaching. He quickly started walking away but Keamy clipped his shoulder.

"Watch it nerd." Keamy growled.

Daniel hit his head against the wall and he slumped down. As he got up, his head started to spin. He put his hand on the back of his head and noticed blood, _his _blood on his fingertips. He was a bit wobbly but he safely made it to his berth.

He sat down on his small bunk, and then curiously started to flip through his worn journal. It was almost endless pages of messy equations and diagrams until something caught his eye, a large octagonal symbol. Daniel almost immediately recognized it, it was a DHARMA station. The Orchid it was called? He looked up to see in his messy writing:

_Secondary Protocol, using this at the Orchid will result in the Island becoming "unstuck". _

Daniel quickly looked up as he heard a faint knocking, stuffing his journal hastily in his bag.

"Dan! Open up, it's just me." Charlotte said faintly.

"Come in Charlotte." Dan replied, not wanting to get up in fear of getting dizzy again. Charlotte came in quietly and sat down next to Dan, a pack of cards in her hands.

"Jesus Dan! What the bloody hell happened to your head?!" She gingerly reached out to examine to examine the bleeding cut. "I'll be right back." She said, abruptly leaving. She was back a minute later with a first aid kit in hand.

"Where'd you get that?" Dan asked. _Is she always prepared like this?_

"I brought one; it's always good to come prepared." She smiled and pulled out a bottle of peroxide and a cloth. He responded with a slow nod.

"So, what happened?" she asked, pouring some peroxide on the cloth.

"Uhhh, I...um, I-I ran into Keamy and hit my head on the wall." He responded slowly, tripping over his words. Charlotte sighed, her fists clenched tight. She felt like punching that arrogant asshole next time she saw him.

"This is going to hurt Dan." She warned before putting the cloth to his head. He hissed in pain, biting his tongue.

"There, all done." Charlotte said when she finished. He looked up and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks." He said, and although his head still hurt like hell, he felt a lot better when he was with Charlotte. She helped him and unlike everyone else, treated him like a normal person. Although he wasn't _exactly_ normal, he still had memory problems and wasn't very good on a social level.

"No problem Dan. You should get some rest, yeah? Don't worry about the card game tonight." Charlotte said, getting up and heading towards the door. She turned around to face him again, a smile forming at her lips. "Breakfast at our normal time?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at 8." Daniel replied, a smile forming at his lips. As soon as he left, he pulled out his journal staring at that logo. He began to worry. _I've got a feeling this won't be very good._

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Charlotte and Daniel walked over to the group that formed at the kitchen, all of them wondering what the hell was going on. They stood together by Jack, who was holding the SAT phone.

"It-It was Sayid and Desmond in the helicopter, right?" said Rose cautiously, "I mean it had to be. Why else would they drop the thingamabob right over us?"

"Why wouldn't they just land?" Sun asked the group.

"I don't know but this thing is tracking the chopper. So if they were on it, then they want us to know where they're going." Jack quickly replied from beside them.

"It's a phone right? Can't we just call?" Sun asked again. The phone kept beeping as Jack shifted his gaze over to Dan and asked.

"Well?"

Daniel gave him a simple nod and Jack took a step forward and handed him the phone. "Don't try anything stupid." Jack warned. Charlotte had a stoic look on her face as she looked at Jack then turned to face Dan. "Understood." Dan replied simply as everyone turned their attention to him. Daniel pushed a few buttons to set it to Monitor Mode. There was a long pause and Charlotte gave him a concerned look. Then they finally heard static, the whirring sound of the chopper, and Keamy's gruff voice:

"_Put her down over there."_

"Is that from the chopper?" Juliet asked.

"Shh." Daniel cut her off so they could hear what was going on and turned his attention back to the phone.

"_Are you sure? We're still 5 klicks from the site."_ Frank responded.

"_I said put her down Frank!"_ Keamy growled. _"Okay, gear up, boys. As soon as we hit the ground, we deploy to the Orchid. Heads down! Let's do this."_ Then it was cut off and all they could hear was the static. Daniel blinked as he tried to think what was going on and why he was so worried. Jack looked over to Juliet.

"Do you know what the Orchid is?" he asked her.

"No. I didn't hear Desmond or Sayid either." she returned. Jack thought for a moment before deciding what to do.

"Kate." He called out. Jack took the SAT phone back from Daniel and walked over to Kate, asking her to go for a walk, which didn't sound like a good idea to Dan. He thought for a moment before quickly walking over to his tent. Charlotte kept standing there with her hands on her hips and watched as Juliet and Jack argued, and Juliet walking away with tears in her eyes. Looking beside her and realizing Dan had already left, she started walking in the direction of their tent.

Daniel frantically looked though his bag until he found his worn journal and opened it, flicking through the pages furiously.

"Daniel?" Charlotte said, almost making him jump. He turned to look at her for a second before going back to flipping though pages. "What's wrong?" she asked as she sat down next to him. He stopped and turned to face her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Charlotte, did you hear what he said? They're going to the Orchid. They're using the Secondary Protocol." He whispered fiercely as he hit the table with the flashlight. Charlotte can clearly see the worry in his brown eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked as he flicked through the pages until he found the one with the DHARMA symbol on it. He took a deep breath and looked up to Charlotte with troubled eyes.

"We have to get off this island....." he whispered. Charlotte looked at him, shocked. _Why do we have to leave? It doesn't make any sense! _she thought.

".....right now."

**A/N 2: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please take just a minute to review if you can, reviews are love! I still need a few more opinions on whether it should be a happy AU ending or an angsty one. Namaste.**


	4. Bonding

**A/N: Wow it's been months since I posted the last chapter! School got really busy and I'm leaving on a sports trip tomorrow then another vacation next week. So anyways the next chapter is done just got to get it read by my beta and should be up soon hopefully. *Added lyrics from the song Starlight by Muse. So here it is, chapter 4 :)**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of its awesome characters.....and the song is Starlight by Muse.  
_

**Chapter 4- Bonding**

_Far away_

_This ship is taking me far away_

_Far away from the memories_

_Of the people who care if I live or die_

* * *

"_Charlotte!" I called out, running to her as fast as I could. She smiled as she saw me. _

"_You okay?" I asked as I touched her hair. _

_She smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine." I quickly began to untie her hands._

"_Yeah, me too. I'm great too." Miles called out. I paid no attention to him and continued to untie her hands. When her hands were finally free, she rubbed her sore wrists. Suddenly her expression changed to shock, and that's when she turned and stumbled. _

"_Charlotte?" _

_She collapsed._

"_Charlotte! Charlotte! Charlotte! No, no, no. Look. Hey. Look at me, look at me. It's okay. It's okay," I said as I turned her over. She was bleeding profusely from her nose. Everyone was running towards us now. _

"_Charlotte!" I yelled as I gathered her in my arms. I knew she was going to...._

"Dan!" he heard her voice. "Wake up, Daniel!" Charlotte said again. Daniel's eyes fluttered open and saw Charlotte hovering above him.

"Charlotte?" Dan said sleepily, he didn't know what was going on.

"You were having a nightmare Dan. I heard you say my name, what happened?" She asked him as he sat up.

"I can't remember." Dan lied; this dream was so real he was trembling with fear.

"Do you want to go for some breakfast to take your mind off of things?" Charlotte asked him and helped him to his feet.

* * *

_The days passed slowly on the freighter. It was a normal day for Daniel, breakfast at 8 with Charlotte, weapons and combat training headed by Naomi, experiments on the deck in the afternoon and his favorite time: playing cards at night with Charlotte. After lunch, Daniel went to his berth to gather equipment for his latest experiment. Hopefully this would work out and nobody would get sick going to and from the aforementioned "Island." He wondered what Charlotte was doing until his thoughts shifted back to his experiment._

_He was now completely frustrated. __This was the 4__th__ time; I should have it by now he thought as he ran his fingers through his messy hair, it was growing longer again. He heard her familiar footsteps come from behind him._

_"Frustrated?" Charlotte said teasingly. Daniel gave a nervous chuckle._

_"Ummm...k-kinda." He looked back down to his book._

_"I'm sure you can do it," Charlotte said sincerely as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Daniel couldn't exactly find an answer so he gave her a simple nod, he also couldn't help but notice the way that his skin tingled where she touched him. Charlotte took a place against the railing and silently watched him. With just Daniel, it was a comfortable silence. She checked her watch. 1:42 PM, the little numbers told her. This was when Keamy and his "friends" ate their lunch, so they always took advantage of this quietness. After another 15 odd minutes, Daniel checked and re-checked his equations. They were perfect. __Finally, he thought._

_"You've got it?"_

_"Yeah, I think it will be safe. I've re-checked and I-I think a bearing of 305 will be the safest traveling to and from the Island."_

_"Let's go sit down for a bit."_

_Like their regular card games, they usually hung out behind the container during the early afternoon before the mercenaries had shooting practice. They talked about everything. As each day passed, they grew closer and closer. Closer than both had originally intended. They were so engrossed in their conversation didn't really notice Miles coming out of nowhere._

_"Why are you guys __always back here?" Miles smirked. Daniel nearly jumped out of his skin, which gave Miles some satisfaction. Charlotte simply turned and glared at him, until she found the perfect comeback to make him leave._

_"Why don't you go kiss up to Naomi now?" Charlotte said coolly (it was pretty obvious to most, if not all that Miles had a little school-boy crush on their group leader). That shut him up. He turned and stalked off, the red glow of embarrassment quickly creeping up to his cheeks. As soon as he was out of earshot, Charlotte and Dan burst into laughter. It was at least a minute until they could talk again._

_"You sure got him there." Daniel said between laughs._

_"Yeah, that look was priceless!" Charlotte replied happily, and her eyes met his brown ones for a moment too long. She couldn't help but think she had a little crush on him. __Why him? she thought. Then she shifted her gaze to her fingernails._

_"So, you were telling about Chopin?"_

* * *

Daniel spent most of the morning trying to figure out how they can get back to the freighter and off this crazy Island. He looked down the beach and saw Charlotte sitting by the water. She has been a bit quiet for a while, although she still talked to him during breakfast this morning. His answer came that afternoon. He was sitting outside their tent when he heard distant shouts down the beach. As Daniel caught up with the group, he saw Sayid. He brought the Zodiac so he could get the people back to the freighter. Juliet called a meeting for the camp over by the kitchen. Daniel went and stood by Charlotte while they figured out what the hell was going on.

"I'm going to start taking people to the freighter, six at a time. Pack your stuff and I'll take the first group in 10 minutes," Sayid said, and everyone nodded and went off to go pack their belongings. As they walked to their tent, Dan told Charlotte she should go on the first trip and she agreed. Ten minutes later, by the Zodiac, Dan went to talk to Sayid as he came up.

"Hey, Sayid. Listen, if you want to run off into the jungle after that chopper, you should do that. But in the meantime we need to get these people off this Island." Dan said.

"I won't be long. If I can catch up to Jack and Kate..." Sayid replied but Dan cut him off.

"I can start ferrying people now; I can get them there safely. By the time you get back, I can have most of these people on our boat." Sayid looked over to Juliet, and after a moment she gave him the slightest nod. Then Sayid reached into his pocket and pulled out the compass.

"I trust you know the bearing. You'd better get going." Sayid said, handing the compass and giving him a pat on the arm before heading towards the jungle.

"Thank you," Daniel said and turned to address the group. "All right, first group in the raft. We can fit six!"

"Wait. Sun's pregnant. She should go first." Juliet said.

Sun smiled back at her. So Sun and Jin ended up taking Charlotte and another guy's spot on the raft. Charlotte grabbed her bag and stood back and waited for the raft to launch. A minute later, Daniel saw Sun holding a small baby in her arms as Sayid and Kate ran back into the jungle.

"All right, this is just the first trip. Here we go," Dan said. As he pulled the Zodiac into the water, he looked back over his shoulder and gave Charlotte a little wave. If he had enough time he would have told her not to worry, that he would be back soon. To him, Charlotte looked pretty worried as she stood and watched the Zodiac until it disappeared into the horizon.

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	5. It Could Be Forever

_A/N: Hello again everyone! Sorry this took six months to get done, it's been pretty crazy. I promised myself I would get this out after the finale, so here it is. I hoped everyone liked the finale as much as I did, I also liked seeing a bit of Charlotte/Daniel this past while too :) So anyways here it is, Chapter 5!_

_**[Disclaimer: I do not own Lost, or any of it's awesome characters]**_

**Chapter 5- It Could Be Forever**

Charlotte kept watching until the Zodiac was out of sight, still she stood there for another minute until she saw everyone else had left. Seeing as she was already packed, she headed towards the kitchen. At the kitchen, she opened her pack and pulled out the Hydra collar, one of the reasons she's here. She ran her finger over the dull surface and wondered to herself if this was the DHARMA Island. She was so transfixed that she didn't notice Miles behind her.

"What's that?" Miles questioned, his usual smirk on his face.

"It's none of your bloody business." Charlotte replied quickly, shoving the collar in her bag. She shot him a quick glare and he just walked off, probably out to eat some food. To take her mind off of where Dan was, she started to reorganize her bag and pack a bit of food. Miles was eating some peanuts, and a lady carrying a bowl of fruit noticed (Charlotte remembered her as the one her and Dan were arguing with before).

"Uh who told you you could eat those peanuts?" She asked cautiously.

"May-may I eat these peanuts?" Miles replied, shaking the can.

"I'm gonna keep my eye on you, shorty." She replied shaking a finger at him. And Miles sat there defiantly and continued to eat the peanuts. She then heard Daniel's voice, and Charlotte quickly composed herself. "Dan, you're back." She said, happy her voice was nonchalant, then she noticed the concern written on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm leaving in 10 minutes, taking the next group of people to the freighter. You need to make sure that you're with me on that raft, all right?" Daniel said, glancing at both Charlotte and Miles and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Don't worry about me cause I'm gonna stay." Miles replied.

"Miles, no, I-I don't think I'm getting across the direness of the circumstance." Daniel pleaded. Charlotte shot Miles a confused glance, _Why the hell does he want to stay? _she thought.

"No, no. You're very dire. But I'm still gonna stay." Miles said, walking off. Charlotte looked after him, still a puzzled look on her face until Daniel turned to her.

"Hey, ten minutes." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Charlotte nodded and replied with a "Yep." As Dan walked away, Charlotte picked up her bag and was going to follow him but Miles spoke to her.

"I'm surprised you want to leave."

"Sorry?" She replied, giving him a puzzled look. Miles shook his head.

"It's just weird you know, after all that time you spent trying to get back _here_."

"What do you mean _Get back here_?"

"What _do_ I mean?" Miles replied, giving her a wry smirk before walking off. Everything clicked together in Charlotte's mind; she couldn't leave until she found out if this was the place. Now she knows that she would have to say goodbye to Daniel. She wondered why they were always separated; this was not going to be an easy goodbye for either of them.

* * *

It was supposed to be exciting going to the Island, but not like this Charlotte thought. It was chaos; the controls frantically beeping, the wind and rain whipping the chopper, the crack of lightning frighteningly close and the booms of thunder overhead. Frank keeps hollering at them to get out of the chopper. Charlotte frantically searched for her bullet-proof vest yelling at Miles if he has seen it. _How could I forget something so important!_

"Check under your seat!"

"I already did!" They were running out of time now. Miles tossed her his vest and she quickly put it on. Looking over, she saw Miles push Daniel out the door. She paused for a moment and was relieved when she saw his parachute had opened. A minute after that, Miles bailed out into the storm, Charlotte was still doing up her chute when Frank hollered at her.

"Charlotte you need to get out now! We're going down-" Charlotte took a deep breath before diving into the darkness, her parachute opened perfectly. Darkness surrounded her and she couldn't see anything, so it caught her off guard when she made contact with a tree. For hours she hung upside-down, her chute tangled in the branches of a tree. _What the bloody hell am I supposed to do?_ Looking down to the water, she saw there was only one way out. She pulled the release cord and did a half-back, landing feet first into the cool water. When she emerged and pulled off her helmet, she was overcome by joy. It took her so long to get here, she thought as she turned around to take in the beauty....until there was a rustling in the bushes. There was no time to take out her gun, and then a group of about 12 emerged.

"H-hi." Charlotte said quietly, shuddering from the chilly waters.

"Hi yourself." Said a bald guy Charlotte presumed was their leader. They brought her to shore and she sat on a rock in the jungle to take a little rest.

_There's definitely something up with these survivors, they were awfully quiet for people waiting ninety days for rescue..._

"I can't believe you're alive. How many of you are there?" Charlotte asked the group. They were awfully quiet for people waiting ninety days for rescue.

"Why do you want to know?" Asked this bigger bloke in a red shirt.

"Why wouldn't I wanna know?" Their silence was starting to bother her now and she began to wonder what was going on with them.

"Forty-eight of us survived the crash. That's not counting the tail section, they're pretty much all dead now..."

"Hugo." Interrupted their bald leader; giving Hugo a stern look.

"So you've been living here this entire time?" Charlotte asked and again it went unanswered. She smiled slightly at a young blond woman holding a baby in her arms. "Is that your baby?"

"Yeah, this is Aaron." The girl replied in an Australian accent.

"Did you have him here on the Island?"

"Mm-hmm." The girl nodded and Charlotte looked to see wary looks from the survivors. "That's amazing. Well I've got a million more questions I want to ask you, but they can wait until we get you back to the freighter. We've all got these transponders, so if you sit tight they're gonna be here soon ok?" Charlotte smoothly lied; they weren't here to rescue them and she felt a little bad for giving them false hope. The team was there to remove Linus, but Charlotte had a different agenda.

"This team of yours; how many of you are there?" The leader inquired. Charlotte looked at her feet for a moment then answered, "Four, including me."

"What happened to your helicopter?"

"I don't know. The pilot was trying to put it down."

"Where?" He persisted; this slap head was getting on her nerves.

"I don't know." Charlotte repeated, "I had to jump, it was chaos." Everyone looked distrustful. "I'm lucky to be alive." The bald leader stood up, and instructed her to get up and go with them.

"Wha...Why? We need to stay here so they can find us."

"See there's your problem; we don't want to be found." Charlotte's smile faded and he took her transponder and tied it to the dog that ran into the jungle. As Charlotte walked she wondered where Daniel was on this Island and hoped nothing terrible has happened to him, like finding a worse group then this. Her thoughts were interrupted by a flare and she felt a wave of relief thinking her team was okay. "That's them, that's someone from my team." She turned to see worried expressions.

"What's wrong with you people? We're here because of _you_. I just almost died jumping out of a helicopter because you called for us for help. She said annoyed by these strange people.

"Maybe we should go see who launched that flare." The big bloke Hugo said.

"Yeah, I mean they could be hurt John." the blonde mother said.

"She's lying." John stated. "Whatever they came for, isn't us. We keep moving forward as planned."

"Sure. Who are we to argue with Taller Ghost Walt." a man with a southern drawl said sarcastically.

"You know what; you people do whatever you want." Charlotte said turning around.

"I want you to come with us." John said forcefully.

"I'm not asking for permission. And if you think you're going to bloody well stop me from getting to my..." Charlotte was cut off as a gun fired and next thing she knows, she hits the ground and her vision fades to black. A minute later she opens her eyes and gasps for air. "The vest."

"What?" John looked at her, confused.

"Vest!" She gasps again and he unzips her jacket to reveal Miles' bullet-proof vest. Charlotte continued to gasp as John pulled her up and she sat on a rock. After a few minutes, she managed to shake off the pain and caught her breath. She thought, well hoped Daniel had found nicer people then these.

"You okay?" John asked.

"I feel like I've got a cinder block on my chest, but I'll survive"

"I'm sorry you got shot. I didn't intend for that to happen."

"Really? It seemed like you were about to shoot me yourself."

"What good would you be to me dead?" _The nerve of this bald bloke! _She thought.

"I feel much more comfortable now. Thanks." Charlotte muttered sarcastically, and then frowned as he walked over to Benjamin Linus. Linus was the one they were actually looking for, and he was the one that pulled the trigger that tried to put two bullets in her chest.

"Her name is Charlotte Lewis." Ben said and everyone turned and looked. "Charlotte Staples Lewis." And he continued to list; her family, her schooling, her life. She looked down and realized how _powerful_ Linus is. After that situation died down, they continued on to wherever they were going. Eventually they came across a familiar place. With bright yellow houses and swing sets, it all came back to Charlotte as _home_. A few hours later she sees a familiar face approach the camp, Miles. Before she said could say anything Miles got there first.

"Dan's okay, he's with Frank over where the chopper landed." Charlotte let out a relieved sigh in her head. "Landed? I thought it crashed."

"I don't know how he did it. He also said he would take some of these yahoos off the Island if we brought you back." They both looked over to see the Arab guy who came with Miles engaged in a quiet conversation with John. Then they came over, John tied up Miles' hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" An angry and struggling Miles shouted as he was dragged away.

The Arab guy, who introduced himself as Sayid, whisked her away from the barracks. After an hour's quiet walk she saw the chopper after going over the last little hill.

"What happened to Miles?" Frank asked as they approached.

"I traded him." Sayid replied.

"Traded him?"

"I promised you Charlotte, here she is." Charlotte shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"You cheated."

"Did I?"

"Yes you did, lucky for you that guy's nothing but a pain in my ass." Charlotte finally walked over toward Daniel who was a few feet away.

"Hey." He said putting an arm around her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Charlotte smiled, she was certainly glad he was okay too. Charlotte turned down a seat on the chopper; it's way too soon to leave. And she wasn't surprised when Daniel turned down a seat and offered to stay with her. She was glad they could stick together for whatever mad adventure that lays ahead of them.

* * *

Charlotte knew this was going to be difficult, for the both of them. She had unintentionally grown so close to him in this short time. _How am I going to explain all of this to him?_ She thought as she sat by the shore. She took a long deep breath before rising to her feet and heading over to where she saw Daniel packing his bag.

"Hey, Charlotte!" He called out to her, and the butterflies in her stomach rapidly multiplied as her mind numbed for a moment. She regained her composure by the time she got up to him.

"Listen, I wanted to say before you get on the boat, please..." But Charlotte quickly cut him off; she needed to tell him now.

"I'm going to stay Daniel, for now anyways." Charlotte sighed, looking up at his worried face.

"Charlotte." He breathed, "There is no more _for now_. If you don't come with me, 'for now' could be forever." Daniel continued sadly, the look in his eyes said it all.

"Nothing's forever." Charlotte raised her eyebrows for a second.

"Why?" More sorrow evident in his voice. Charlotte took another deep breath before expanding.

"Would it make any sense if I told you I was still looking for where I was born?" Charlotte explained simply, even though they were close she didn't want to reveal too much. Dan gave her a cute nervous chuckle before answering, "N-no." They both laughed a little awkwardly for a moment and Charlotte pushed her hair back. Before she lost the chance, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the cheek. She put her hand on his cheek and he stroked her hair for a second, the delicate moment broken when Charlotte stepped back.

"Goodbye Daniel." Charlotte said quietly, giving him one last smile before turning away. Daniel watched her leave, then turned and stumbled down the beach, distraught.

(_Right, right....when I get back.)_

Her eyes shiny, Charlotte went back to their tent for a minute and blinked back a few tears. She secretly detested goodbyes, which was why she preferred not doing them. But for Daniel, she felt like she had to. After a few more minutes, Charlotte left the tent to get some water. She heard a rumbling _boom_ in the distance and she looked over towards the ocean. She felt her heart ache when she saw a pillar of black smoke from where the Kahana used to be.

_A/N 2: Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing. Sorry lots is dialogue, it gets much better soon. I'm writing chapter 8 currently, but unfortunately I might be able to only get one typed out and posted in the next few months due to exams and going to Nova Scotia. Also I would like opinions on whether or not I should post my other three Charladay oneshots, anyone interested? Anyways thanks for reading, Namaste :)_

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